USS Miami fire suspect to stay in jail: Judge rules danger to community is too great

Thursday

Aug 2, 2012 at 3:15 AM

By JIM HADDADINjhaddadin@fosters.com

PORTLAND, Maine — The civilian worker accused of setting fire to a nuclear submarine at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard will remain in jail as he awaits trial on arson charges.

A federal judge ruled Wednesday that Casey James Fury poses too great a risk of danger to the community to be allowed out on bail.

Fury sought permission at a detention hearing Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Portland to live at his father's home in Eliot, Maine, and try to find work in the area while his trial gets under way. But Magistrate Judge John Rich III ruled there are no conditions of release that can ensure Fury won't harm others.

Fury allegedly confessed in a videotaped interview to starting the May 23 fire on the USS Miami, a Los Angeles-class attack submarine. More than 100 firefighters helped to extinguish the fire, which spread through the forward areas of the vessel and continued to burn for approximately 12 hours.

The fire caused an estimated $400 million worth of damage, and seven firefighters suffered minor injuries during the event.

Investigators say Fury has also confessed to lighting a second fire underneath the same ship on June 16, and to pulling a fire alarm during a third incident.

Although Fury doesn't have a lengthy criminal record, Rich said he was troubled by the 24-year-old's decision to allegedly set a second fire after witnessing the damage and injury caused by the first.

"The utter disregard for the safety of others and the community is simply too great to allow the defendant to be released in this instance," Rich said.

Fury faces two felony counts of arson within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States. The charges carry a potential lifetime prison sentence and fines of up to $250,000 each.

Public defender David Beneman said his client was struggling with escalating anxiety problems and had trouble sleeping earlier this year. Those problems were exacerbated by the restrictive nature of working inside a high-security naval facility, Beneman said. He compared Fury's actions to a middle school student who pulls the fire alarm to get out of taking a test.

Fury's father and step other also took the stand during Wednesday's detention hearing. James Fury said his son has not demonstrated a pattern of starting fires in the past.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Darcie McElwee countered that Fury has demonstrated a pattern of reckless indifference to the safety of others, which includes two arrests for driving while intoxicated.

The most recent arrest came June 14, two days before Fury allegedly set a small fire in the dry dock cradle area underneath the USS Miami. He was also arrested for marijuana possession in the past, McElwee said.

Wednesday's hearing, which lasted nearly three hours, also included testimony from one of the victims of the fire, Lt. Richard McMunn, an officer on the USS Miami who was injured during the first fire. McMunn said he fractured six ribs and injured his knee after falling several feet through a hole in the ship's hull.

"I am only one of the many victims of this fire ..." McMunn said. "Every taxpayer in America is a victim of this fire."

Fury allegedly set fire to a stack of alcohol wipes to start the second fire in June. In an interview last month, Fury allegedly told investigators he was sending text messages back and forth to his ex-girlfriend immediately before the fire. He became "anxious about the conversation" and wanted to leave work, according to court documents.

At the time, Fury was taking Celexa for his anxiety and depression, Klonopin for the anxiety, Zyrtec for allergies and Ambien for sleeping problems, according to the affidavit. Investigators have also discovered Fury was treated at an in-patient mental health facility between June 21 and June 23.

Fury, a painter and sandblaster, initially denied any involvement in the fires, but eventually confessed to sparking the June fire, according to court documents. He subsequently confessed to starting the May fire while undergoing a polygraph test.

Fury then led Navy investigators on a walk-through of the USS Pasadena, another submarine stationed at the shipyard with a similar layout to the Miami, and demonstrated how he allegedly started the May fire.